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Our friends at Focus on the Family and Concerned Women for America have developed a 20-question test to see how much you know about Roe v Wade and abortion myths. You can take the test here: http://www.roeiqtest.com/ui/

Same here. Total number (I thought we were higher) and I picked O’Connor…I knew it was one of the female justices I just couldn’t remember which one. To be fair though those were the only hard questions (with maybe the exception of the foreign law question). If you knew that Roe v Wade provided unrestricted access the test was a snap.

Nick – identical score, identical mistakes. Figured O’Connor was “squishier” and it couldn’t have been an obvious, conservative choice.

I hope some very low scores are being made – I hope that undergraduate students, for instance, take this test. A grad assistant at work a couple of years back, trying to sound sophisticated, advanced her opinion that our abortion laws were just too complicated; that it should either be “totally legal in all circumstances, or totally illegal.” She was proud of her pose, and refused to believe me when I pointed out that the former was already the case. (“Well, then, what is everyone arguing about…?”)

I had just checked on the number of abortions in order to preach for 1/22, so I happened to answer that question correctly.

I also knew that Justice Ginsburg had sought to ground the abortion license in women’s equality under the law, rather than in an alleged right to privacy, but I didn’t realize she believed Roe went too far, so I, too, answered that question incorrectly.

Thus: 11/12.

Caution: It’s necessary to read the disclaimer about Roe and Doe at the beginning, otherwise you’ll get the trimester question wrong, and perhaps others.

>>>Caution: It’s necessary to read the disclaimer about Roe and Doe at the beginning, otherwise you’ll get the trimester question wrong, and perhaps others.< <<
Yes, the questions by themselves are somewhat misleading in that they are questions about Roe and not about abortion law in general. Not reading them carefully and answering the precise question asked could lead to several wrong answers.

I only missed the SC justice question, too. I wonder if this poll is going to really tell anyone much, though — it seems that it will surely very highly select to those already interested on the pro-life side of the debate.

>>Caution: It’s necessary to read the disclaimer about Roe and Doe at the beginning, otherwise you’ll get the trimester question wrong, and perhaps others.< <
>>Yes, the questions by themselves are somewhat misleading in that they are questions about Roe and not about abortion law in general. Not reading them carefully and answering the precise question asked could lead to several wrong answers.<<
That explains my abysmally low score. Bearing in mind abortion law in general, I would have been about 10/12. I actually got the Ginsberg one right from old debate material.

The Ginsburg question (the one I got wrong) is most misleading. Those who’ve studied the law are no doubt aware of the Justice’s concern about the foundation of the abortion license (equality v. privacy), but her remarks about “going too far” are plainly a matter of politics and not her preference for the outcome.

Judy, the answer to your question is yes, but… no. I actually got 11/12 and was in the 93rd percentile. (Missed the number since Roe question, although I also noted the old data…) It appears that people are taking this and not scoring well…

You’re quite right. I repent in sack cloth and ashes or the nearest available equivalents for being caught in my own stare (which means I’ll go without soda today and meditate on my own short sightedness). For those curious the “media” button at the top gives statistics on the scores. Or to make it simple here:

I don’t make much out of the scores. Again, the questions required a very close reading to get to the correct answer. Likely, many participants didn’t read the questions that closely. Questions about what Roe allowed, for example, take in to consideration none of the subsequent developments in abortion law. Our laws are indeed very liberal, but there is a difference between, for example, what Roe allowed and what Roe required. These questions would never have passed review by a competent polling organization or academic who must create valid survey instruments. The low scores may reflect more the ignorance of those who drafted the questions than the ignorance of those who answered them.